


Crash Into Me

by oneoneandone



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-15
Updated: 2021-01-15
Packaged: 2021-03-13 02:54:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28771161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oneoneandone/pseuds/oneoneandone
Summary: It was an accident.
Relationships: Lindsey Horan/Kelley O’Hara/Emily Sonnett
Comments: 3
Kudos: 38





	Crash Into Me

**Author's Note:**

> **Prompt**   
>  _Dialogue prompt #34: "You broke what?!?" "Don't worry, I'm okay"_

“Hey, there,” she hears a soft voice from above, “welcome back.” Lindsey’s voice. And Kelley scrunches up her face, eyes still closed tight against the light that only seems to be getting brighter.

“Oh, don’t go making that face,” a hand, Lindsey’s hand, comes to rest against her jaw. “It’s time to wake up, baby. Time to open those pretty eyes.”

Sleep still pulls at her, something deeper than sleep even. But the gentle song of Lindsey’s low voice tugs at her too, pulling her closer and closer to the light. And then her eyes are open; blinking hard against the brightness of the room, but open.

“There you are,” Emily’s voice comes from somewhere above her, to her side, and Kelley tries to turn toward her, to find the familiar beauty of her face in this unfamiliar place, but she can’t. Something is stopping her, something is keeping her still.

“Mmmmm,” she thinks she calls out, but Kelley can’t quite tell if she only imagined the sound she wants to make. Still, she must have said something, something recognizable enough, because Emily steps into her field of vision, eyes red and tired, face lined with worry and exhaustion, blurry, but there.

There.

“So, I’m going to explain everything,” Lindsey says from where she’s moved closer on the other side, and Emily turns ahead to hide the sheepish look on her own face, “but first, the most important thing—you’re going to be okay.”

And Kelley looks up at her in confusion, because she has no idea what her girlfriend is talking about. Still, she gives as much of a nod as she can, recognizing now that her head and neck are being restrained by something. A brace most likely.

She takes a breath. “Happen’d?” Kelley asks, hearing the sleepy slur of the word as it leaves her mouth.

“So,” the blonde starts, but shakes her head—her whole body, like she’s exorcising some demon—and looks over to Lindsey, who just sighs and takes over. “I don’t know if you remember, but you and Em were at practice?”

Kelley doesn’t bother nodding, she remembers. And even if she didn’t, she’d rather they just get to the point and tell her what the hell is going on. “Right,” Emily takes a breath, giving in to Lindsey silent prodding, “so, we were scrimmaging, on opposite sides, practicing corner kick situations.”

Emily begins to look more and more distressed, fingers digging into the blankets on Kelley’s bed, and the older woman furrows her brow. “What did—”

“I, um, I kind of collided with you and sent you into the post.”

Kelley squints, as if she’d misheard. “Wait, you what?” she asks again, reaching to take the younger woman’s hand with her own, just noticing the IV there on the back of her hand. And she feels Lindsey’s strong hands over her shoulder, massaging gently. “Seriously?” She thinks back to the first thing she can remember—

Waking up, her nose buried in soft blonde hair.

Whispering good morning as she slipped out of bed, leaving her live-in partner behind to catch a few more hours while she slipped on her trainers and dug her bike helmet out from a pile of laundry sorted and ready to be tossed in the washer. The slight chill of the early April morning, watching the sun rise over the Capitol as she rode through the still drowsy streets.

The scent of coffee brewing as she opened the door between their laundry room and the garage, wafting down the hall to greet her and welcome her home.

The last thing, the last sure memory she has—Emily in the shower, laughing.

After that, everything is a blur. Snippets remain, but they could be from that day or any of a hundred days before. Locker rooms and uniforms, a ball at her feet. The feel of the pitch under her boots, the sound of a foot hitting the ball, hitting the net.

And then this. Emily’s worried eyes, Lindsey’s steady presence, the pinch of a needle in her skin. Bright lights and the rhythmic sound of alarms and alerts in the background.

“Technically,” the blonde stammers softly, “I mean, it was kind of a mess, the pitch was pretty muddy and slippery. But I’m pretty sure I’m the one who shoved you to try and head the ball in.” Kelley would try to make a joke or something, but the other woman looks pretty devastated at the moment. Maybe later, when she can feel Lindsey’s warm breath against her skin, when their blonde is tucked into her side, holding her, keeping her warm in the chilly room. Maybe there will be time to tease then.

For now, the older woman just tries to nod, forgetting again that she can’t move her head at the moment. “How bad?” But she knows already from the look in Emily’s eyes, that sad regret there. “Do I get to put your Best Shiner trophy on my shelves now?” And her laugh is meant to cut through the tension, but it doesn’t quite do the trick.

That’s how Kelley knows that it aren’t just bad.

They’re really bad.

“You have a skull fracture,” Lindsey sits on the edge of the bed as Emily begins to play with the blanket again, unwilling to meet Kelley’s eyes. “And, um, there was some nerve damage.” The youngest woman holds up her phone, “I can show you, but you’ve got to stay chill, okay?”

Emily steps away from the bed, unable to watch, to witness Kelley seeing the damage of their collision, even as the injured woman stretches out a hand after her. “It’s okay,” Lindsey says softly, “she’s still here, just over standing by the window. Now, here,” she holds out her phone, camera on to act as a mirror.

Kelley manages to swallow the gasp somehow, but she knows the shock must register on her face because Lindsey’s free hand finds hers, unburdened by IVs, and squeezes it, hard, bringing her out of her initial shock. She looks—well, she looks rough. There’s a bandage wrapped around her head, her hair pulled up into a messy side pony to be out of the way. She can see how she must have hit the pole, sliding right into it until it collided with her temple, the swelling and the purple-black of the bruise that’s formed. It looks—violent, vicious.

“My eye?” she reaches a hand up to touch it gingerly, half-lidded and red. But Lindsey pulls her hand back down before she can feel the extent of the damage.

“Orbital bone fracture,” Lindsey tells her carefully, “but they don’t think your vision will be permanently affected. And, they don’t think you’ll need surgery, that’s a plus, right?” Her voice takes on a more directly positive tone and Kelley can tell she’s aiming the words toward their girlfriend, who is clearly riddled with guilt. “There’s just a little temporary paralysis, the shock of the impact, but they think it’ll clear up as the swelling goes down.” There again is that positive, cheerful outlook, and Kelley wishes she could roll her eyes at the taller woman’s unusually optimistic demeanor. But she’s pretty sure it would hurt too much.

“In the meantime,” Lindsey brings up the edge of the lightweight blanket covering the bed, “we’ll just call you ‘One Eye’ for awhile.” And that does exactly what Lindsey had hoped it would, it makes her laugh. Softly, and definitely without her usual exuberance. But the laugh is there and Lindsey smiles down at her, leaning in to gently kiss her uninjured cheek. “She’s been freaking out since I got here,” she whispers against your ear, gesturing toward Emily carefully.

And Kelley nods, closing her eyes for just a moment before opening them. “Emily,” she calls out softly, “come back.”

It takes a minute, but eventually, after Lindsey went over to whisper something in a fierce tone, Emily returns to the side of the bed, and Kelley takes her hand. She won’t let the blonde run away this time.

“Hey,” she whispers, thumb stroking over her girlfriend’s palm, “it was an accident. Could have just as easily been me going after the ball and you getting in my way.” Lindsey appears over Emily’s shoulder, and hugs the blonde from behind, Kelley giving them both an encouraging smile. And they stand for awhile, quiet, soaking in the comfort of each other’s presence.

Lindsey, eventually, breaks it, grinning wildly as she rocks Em gently from behind. “You should have heard it, baby,” she says, “the voicemail I got. Em going crazy, saying she broke you, that it was her fault. And I’m there in Portland, half-naked and getting ready to shower after my practice, and I’m all 'You broke what?’”

Kelley laughs softly, able to picture both sides so perfectly. “Emmy,” she smiles, looking back and forth between her two girls, “I’m okay. I’m going to be okay. Really.” And this time, when she tugs Emily closer for a kiss, the blonde gives in, leaning forward to press the softest, sweetest, of kisses to her lips.


End file.
